Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Of course, knitting wasn't the ONLY thing that happened this year in Chez Green Woman...

I began last year with a burning need to learn how to draw. I've not been able to devote as much time to it as I'd hoped, but I have done enough to show possibility. I also went back in time and discovered that I do have it in me...I just need to put in the work to bring it forth. This is a copy of the design on my old Amy Butler knitting bag - done last April. It's by far my favorite, mostly because I still can't believe that I was able to do this without looking at the paper! It's actually pretty darn close....

I did this bird back in February. No, it's not quality by any means, but I do love him. Why? Because everyone that sees this picture immediately asks why the bird looks so ticked off. It may not have been done on purpose, but I did give him personality and emotion...and I'm proud of that!

My inner magpie came out this year, and I found myself drawn to beads like never before. Specifically, I seem to have a fondness for tiny, sparkly seed beads. Mmmm....happy. For the most part, I like to add the beads to my - what else - knitting projects, but I have also learned some basic beading techniques so that I can make myself the occasional piece of jewelry. You could say that I know just enough to be dangerous.

Most of my non-knitting time this year, though, was devoted to my spinning wheel. Highlights include Le Tour De Fleece, becoming more familiar with my beautiful drop spindle, my first true lace weight and being hired as the handspinning judge for an upcoming alpaca show. My only regret for the year is that I didn't build my spinning into a more consistent practice. It remains something that I do in fits and starts - although I typically do an entire batch of fiber at once to avoid problems later on. I am still in love with my lendrum, and am incredibly grateful to my grandmother for buying it for me in 2007.

Most importantly, though, is the fact that I returned to writing in 2008. I hadn't entirely realized how much I missed it until I began this blog. It's been a joy to find my voice again, and I thank you all for being a part of that.

The Green Woman continues to move in my life in interesting ways...and tomorrow I'll tell you about where she's going to send me next.

It is perhaps a little known fact that I am a complete sucker for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. I buy completely into it every year - as both a time to reflect on the year that's past and a time to hope for the year to come. There's just something so magical in the promise of a new beginning!

Last year I sat down with my journal to do an in-depth review and examination of my life in 2007. While I won't bore you with that kind of detail (I believe it was close to 20 pages long when I was done - and I only sat it aside because I didn't have the time to keep going.), I do want to take some time to reflect on my creative journey in 2008.

There's actually a lot to cover, so I'm going to do this in two posts. Otherwise, some of you might run screaming, and we don't want that, now do we!

Knitting - obviously - remains my passion. Thanks to my Notebook on Ravelry, it was easy to put together a comprehensive look at the work I did in 2008. My 33 completed projects included:

4 hats

5 children's sweaters - including 3 baby surprise jackets

3 pair of child-sized socks

5 pair of socks for me

4 lace scarves

surprisingly, only 1 lace shawl

4 pair of fingerless mitts

1 pair of mittens

a mini sweater

a bunch of mini socks in two bunches

2 adult cardigans - one having been on the needles for way too long

a simple shawl for a class sample

It really doesn't feel like I did that much (I can feel a few friends groaning), but I do have to remember that I lost almost a month at the beginning of the year because of a broken finger. I also spent a lot more time this year spinning.

The more interesting story, I feel, is in the fact that 2008 became the year of the frog. Taking trips to the frog pond this year were:

5!!! shawls - including the mystery shawl which I gleefully shredded with scissors

2 pair of socks

3 sweaters - including my maternity sweater

With the exception of the mystery shawl and two of the sweaters, most of the frogging happened fairly early in the project, so it's not as disastrous as it sounds. Most of the items were frogged because they spent too long hanging around on the needles, a sign that they were either never going to be finished or were headed for gauge problems later on. The socks simply weren't working for me, and the maternity sweater was a tent that contained an awful lot of great yarn that I wanted to reuse.

Beyond being a practical act, the frogging also reflects an ongoing commitment to only knitting the things that I want to knit. My big lesson in 2007 was that 'obligatory' knitting hurt - literally. At the time I was still fighting a touch of carpal tunnel that seemed to conveniently flair up any time I knit for any reason other than pleasure. In 2008 the lesson went a step further, and I actually thought for a while that I was finished with knitting forever. A long talk with my BKB resulted in a stash reorganization, the likes of which has never been seen before in this house and is not likely to be seen again. I tossed my years-old knitting plan and began happily knitting only what felt good at the moment and frogging whatever bugged me. It's a simple rule that continues to work for me.

Other knitting news of note - I began teaching knitting classes this year for Hillcreek Yarn Shoppe, which is something I quickly discovered that I LOVE. The cat-herding position with our knitting group through the Columbia Weavers and Spinners guild fell to me...ha ha. My friend Jenn was given the label of, 'my BKB,' during one of my classes, and it rather hilariously stuck. I managed to surprise my friend Shelda once or twice with knitting news and/or new patterns before she could surprise me. (Although she has me way outclassed in that game!)

Curiously, upon reviewing last year's journal entries I found a list of things that I desperately wanted to knit. I did none of them this year, and they are all things I still desperately want to knit. The only progress I actually made on the list was to purchase a copy of the pattern for the Princess Shawl. Honestly, I am a bit bothered that I ignored my own wishes so completely. That needs to be fixed.

Whew! I think that just about covers the knitting! We'll do the rest in another entry!

Monday, December 22, 2008

The Christmas menu is planned, with significant help from 101 Cookbooks.

The sewing is done

The finish basket is mostly clear.

The girls have seen Santa - as you have seen.

The stash is reorganized.

My birthday was happily celebrated.

Journaling didn't happen as much as I would have liked it to. Sigh.

Ripples in Time has been moved from the needles to the finishing basket.

I have lots of fun lined up for the next two weeks.

We'll actually start Christmas crafts this afternoon. I cut the list down to make a happier family!

Now for this week:

All finish work for Christmas projects needs to be done by the end of the day - mostly because two of the items need to be blocked!

Christmas crafts with the girls are to be done today and tomorrow. Princess is VERY excited about them.

Tomorrow morning the girls are going to Doc and Gana's house (my in-laws) for some Christmas fun. While they are there I am going to do the last little bit of holiday shopping I need to do. It's really not much, and will most likely include some window shopping downtown.

Wrap presents. Ugh. My least-favorite job of the year...

Christmas cooking! I'm VERY excited about our new menu this year!

Our poor Christmas tree dried out very quickly this year, so unfortunately it will have to come down Friday or Saturday.

Here's hoping that the new power cord comes soon so that I can share our Christmas traditions with you!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

My husband ordered a new power cord for my computer on Friday, so hopefully it will be here soon! That should fix the problem, and I will be able to resume normal posting at that point.

In the meantime, I am saving up several post ideas to share with you just as soon as I can regain access to my photos. (I don't want to clutter up my husband's computer with my crafting photos!) Included in upcoming posts will be:

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Two happy girls on Santa's lap! This is the first year EVER that didn't involve tears and or screaming when we went to see the big guy. (Poor, poor Santa...) It took the Pixie a little while to warm up, but she fell in love shortly after she did!

Thank You very much for the birthday well-wishes! I promise a full report of the festivities after this weekend. All I know at this point is that my BKB is picking me up at 10:30 AM and that at some point there will be carrot cake. Oh, and my husband gave me cash to spend this weekend....hmmm......

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Today is my 35th birthday! This is me in 1991 - my 18th birthday.It just so happens that this was the last time I truly celebrated my birthday. Since then, my birthdays have - by choice - been very quiet affairs in which I managed to get by with as little fuss as possible. Most years, I would just as soon have pretended that my birthday didn't exist.

But all of that is changing this year.

Growing up with a birthday that was just 8 days before Christmas was never really that much of an issue. My family did a WONDERFUL job of separating the two holidays, making sure I never once felt slighted or had less than a full birthday celebration. In fact, I was born three weeks early, and my family seemed to take that as a blessing - that I had been in a hurry to see my family and celebrate Christmas with them. I have had many friends over the years with birthdays close to the holidays, but none were as fortunate as I when it came to celebrating the event.

The problem began my freshman year in college. Surprise! My birthday was right smack in the middle of my first finals week ever. While finals themselves didn't bother me (I've always rather perversely enjoyed that type of testing.), it did mean that I couldn't spend my birthday with my family and that most of my friends were so preoccupied as to not even notice my special day. I did go home with a friend who lived close by, and her parents made sure that I had a really nice birthday dinner, but that upset my parents. By the time I got home, I was exhausted and ready to move on. My birthday would never be the same.

The year I turned 20, though, was the year that things truly changed for me. In order to understand what happened, you must know a bit of my own personal history. You see, about the time I turned 16 I started suffering from anxiety attacks and depression - although at the time no one in my family really knew what was going on or how to deal with it. It all came to a head on my 20th birthday. I spent that night in the dorms, watching home-made movies with my friends. Something in one of those movies triggered my emotional wounds, and I got up and quietly left. Fortunately, a friend saw me leave and knew something was really wrong. He went home with me that night to my condo, and stayed with me so that I wouldn't be alone. The next morning we drove in to campus for early finals, and I was delivered into the arms of a second friend. That friend gave me the lifeline I needed to sustain me through the holidays. He was as good as his word - his mother always knew where he was if I was to call and need him. A third friend provided the support I needed to call the doctor and set an appointment, and was there when I came home with a prescription for Zoloft. In fact, he had helped me to figure out what was going on some weeks earlier because he had just received his own diagnosis.

For years after that I wanted to forget that I had a birthday. Why on earth would I want to celebrate the anniversary of my biggest emotional crash? In many, many ways I was grateful that it had happened because it had opened me up to the type of help that I needed. I'll never regret the two years I spent on meds or the therapy I had during that time. God knows where I would have wound up if it hadn't happened. But my birthday was no longer a day of celebration. I wanted to let it slip by without notice so that I could quietly reflect on my life in peace.

There are other issues that have come into play as well. I don't like being the center of attention, for one, and have been horribly embarrassed by my size for years. I'm generally a shy person, and I get claustrophobic around people. I've felt distanced from all of our college friends by way of life situations and location, and I've had several disastrous friendships which have caused me to retreat even more at times. If I'm brutally honest, I'll also admit that my own extremely low self-esteem made me feel that I just didn't deserve (fill in the blank).

The good news is that things can change.

You can imagine my husband's surprise when I sat on his lap a few months ago and told him that I wanted a birthday party this year. He certainly wasn't expecting that, but he took it and ran. He and my BKB have planned out the day for me on Saturday, and I can't wait to see what they've come up with.

For a long while now, I've had a feeling that 35 is going to be my best year ever. Perhaps it sounds a little bit silly, but I truly feel that this is the year that I will finally conquer some of my demons and come into my own.

I'm going to spend today doing two very nice things for myself. First, I have some serious writing I want to do in my journal. Second, I'm going to start a sweater for myself. I may not be able to work on it again until after Christmas, but I think that I deserve a day to do something nice for me.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

But her sister has been working on our Christmas pageant for close to three months, and she took her duties very seriously this year. Last year she was nervous, and it took weeks to get her to join in.

This year she volunteered for lines and had a great time through the entire process.

First she was a singing, dancing sheep...and an awfully cute one at that.After a quick costume change, she became one of the kings. Included in her lines was the doozy, "I've just had an epiphany, we need to follow that star!"

In all honesty, these four little troupers took the play more seriously than the older kids, and so their lines were delivered with a sincerity that was heartwarming. They stole the entire show, and I am proud of them all!

Monday, December 15, 2008

The computer problem that has been plaguing me has finally hit the end point. Basically, my laptop is no longer recognizing the power cord, and so I am now without my personal computer. This happened about a year or so ago, and at the time my husband convinced Dell to send me a new cord for free. That's not going to happen again, and although cords don't cost all that much in the grand scheme of things, they don't fit into our current holiday budget.

What this means for me is that I can not get to my email, photos, iTunes or personal files. I can use my husband's computer to blog (without pics), use ravelry and browse the Internet. It's a strange set of limitations...but it is what it is, and I'll have to adjust for now.

In the meantime, here's my list for the week!

First, the review of last week:

Healthy living fell to the flu. I'm still having trouble with a dicey tummy, and so for now I'm just doing the best that I can. In fact, I'm giving myself a break through the holidays because I really don't need one more thing to stress about.

Feb. girl sweater is finished!

I had the flu for the guild meeting, so I almost don't mind that I didn't finish Ripples In Time....almost.

The flu took out a lot of things on my list. 4. was the deep clean, but I have to say that the house really isn't that bad. 6. and 9. (holiday schedule and menu planning) also went down the tubes. The first seems to be under control anyway, and we're just winging it with the second. 7. and 8., (making ornaments and putting together my bead necklace) were just not possible, and I may have to let go of both for now.

The decorating is done! I have pictures to show, but, well....

And this week's list:

Clean, clean, clean, clean...

I do need to plan the holiday menu. We've already decided that we will not be having a formal sit-down Christmas dinner, but will instead just have a nice spread that people can be eating on whenever the mood strikes them. My husband and I are very excited and are planning on coming up with an all-new menu!*

I have one sewing project that I hope to take care of today - mostly because I would like to put the sewing machine away asap so that I can reclaim the desk space in my bedroom!

Clean out the workbasket. I have a lot of finishing to do - none of which will take much time. I just happen to like to do it all at once, and so I save it up. The list includes sewing in ends on two hats, a pair of socks and a sweater, repairing a hole in a shawl and transforming an old project into something new and cool.

Take the girls to see Santa!

Reorganize the stash. The baskets in the corner are bugging me.

I have something very exciting coming up this week....more about that later!

Take time to journal. I think I've just had to accept that in the winter I like to hibernate a bit, and my morning time just isn't happening. I have a whole bunch of things I want to write about, and I just need to make time to make it happen.

Finish Ripples In Time - which is the last 'must-finish' Christmas present I have to do.

Organize projects for the Princess's school vacation.

Help the girls make their Christmas presents for the family.

* Yes, this does mean that we've spoken with everyone and Christmas is officially at our house. It was actually considerably less painful than we expected it to be, which is a very good thing. Someday maybe I'll tell you about the family drama.

Friday, December 12, 2008

I've been really disappointed with the last few issues of Interweave Knits. Check out the latest episode of Stash and Burn, in which they tackle the changes in the world of knitting head on, and pretty much sum up everything I had already determined about the decline of IK. It's definitely a good news/bad news sort of thing, and I have really mixed feelings about it.

I recently was given the opportunity to do some knitting on consignment. After great deliberation, though, I have just reminded myself that life is entirely too short.

Knitting has resumed (I am NOT a woman who likes to knit when sick. No, I like to spend time in bed with what I refer to as schlock novels when I'm sick...), and I will have a finished Christmas item today. Yay!

I was back up to normal by yesterday morning, but I still have very little appetite, and I can't handle sugar. That's not a bad thing at this time of year!

The Christmas tree is stable now.

I have to tell my family that we're not driving home for Christmas this year. Goodie. My parents made the decision when my brother and I were born that they would not be traveling for Christmas anymore. I quite naturally expected support when we made the same decision. Instead I got a yearly family drama that has me almost dreading Christmas. We gave in and drove home last year because we were tired of fighting, but won't do that again. Besides, the Princess wants to have the party here this year!

Last night I received a call from one of my oldest friends that has me very upset. So if you get an essay on the nature of friendship in here sometime soon, bare with me.

We're getting the heck out of the house today. I've been cooped up for too long, and it's going to be a fabulous day!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

At 3 AM my husband and I were startled awake by the sound of a great crash. We ran to the living room to find the tree on its side.

We only lost two ornaments - two among many breakables.

Sadly, this particular one was one of my favorites, and I'm grieving its loss today. This beautiful, hand painted ornament was a gift to my husband and I in honor of our very first Christmas as a married couple. It was made with love by the man who did the flowers for our wedding, a dear friend who really did so much more than just our flowers. If you look at the piece that's signed, you'll see that this was the first a limited edition. It was (and probably still is) an annual tradition of his. Each and every year this has been one of the last ornaments out of the box, placed in a place of honor near the top of the tree. We received several 'first Christmas' ornaments that year, but this is the one that always warmed my heart.

My mom and grandma often say that there's no sense in crying over things that money can replace.

But this one is truly one of a kind, and I think it deserves a few tears today.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

It's no secret that I love old things. Old things have memory, and stories, and secrets.

On the day after Thanksgiving, the women in my family made our second annual trek to Urban Arts & Crafts. It's a magical place, filled with all sorts of lovely crafting supplies and unique handmade gifts. They have a little bit of everything - from beading to paper crafts - with enough to truly create something wonderful, but not so much that you are overwhelmed. (Traditional bead stores, for example, scare the tar out of me.) I've enjoyed each and every trip there - but it's probably a good thing that it's almost three hours away from my home!

We found Urban Arts & Crafts last year, and at the time I was very drawn to these rings. This year, I decided to treat myself to one. I've worn it almost daily since, and find myself often admiring it on my hand. My ring is made of an 18th century button, and not only is it beautiful but it also leads my imagination on the most interesting flights of fancy.

Who knows...I may have to start haunting the local antique stores and flea markets for buttons...

Friday, December 5, 2008

Hi All! I haven't been blogging this week because my computer is acting up again. We're trying to figure out exactly what's going on, and in the meantime I'm not spending much time using it. Hopefully we'll get it figured out soon, and I'll be back asap!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

I managed to get a photo shoot in this morning, so I thought I would finally give you proof of Holiday Knitting.First up, the February Lady Sweater for the Princess. Based on measurements from other clothing, I believe I'm about half way down the body. I'm basing the size on Princess's denim jacket with 3/4 sleeve. It's a size too big, which is what I wanted for the sweater so that she would have room to grow.

Pixie's Tam.

The Princess's Tam.

And the Pixie's socks. Once again, they are just Ann Budd's basic sock pattern, this time made with Mountain Colors leftovers from my stash.

I have a mountain of work to do today, so no links. If you are curious, you can find project details at www.ravelry.com. My Ravelry name is KPiep!

I promise better pictures after the items have been gifted, when I have live models!

My brother and his girlfriend, taking the girls for a walk on Thanksgiving. The cows were intrigued.

I am quite happy to report that I was easily able to do everything on last week's list. Most of it was simple - in keeping with a holiday week - so there's no need to go over it here.

For this week:

I am thrilled to report that I survived Thanksgiving week without gaining any weight! That's a very big deal - especially given the type of stress/exhaustion eating I tend to do at my parents' home. For this week, I want to build on the momentum from the last two weeks by continuing on with my Writing Diet exercises, working out, eating right, getting my sleep habits back on track and generally just taking care of myself. I feel good, and I don't want to lose that!

I finished both tams last week, and moved on to the next Christmas gift - a February Lady sweater for the Princess. (Personally, I think it's hilarious that I sized down a sweater pattern that was sized up from it's original Elizabeth Zimmermann design) It's a quick knit, and I should have no trouble finishing it. Yay to being a bit ahead!

I also want to get Ripples In Time finished in time for the next guild meeting - which is on the 9th.

We want to finish our deep clean of the house by the weekend so that we can sit back and enjoy the holidays. Yes, my husband has committed to helping, as have the girls, so this isn't a one-woman show. If we take it in chunks every day, than we should have no problems.

And then...we can decorate for Christmas! I'm getting a few things out today, but the bulk of it will probably happen over the weekend.

I don't think our holiday schedule is going to be too crazy this year, but I do need to sit down and make sure that I know what our schedule looks like so that it's as easy as can be.

I am considering making a few ornaments for this year to give as wee gifts, and I would like to get started this week. I'm keeping it a secret as they would be going to some readers....

While home for the holidays, I picked up the things I needed to make a bead necklace that I've been planning for a while. I would really love to wear it to my PEO Christmas meeting this week, but if that doesn't happen I would like to at least get it done this week so that it's done.

It's not exciting, but I do need to do our menu planning for the month. Sounds silly to plan it out so far in advance, but we've found that we're really cutting our grocery bills by doing so.

It's looking like my husband is going to get an unfinished sweater in a box. I assured a friend of my mom's on Friday that this was the sign of a true Knitter. Sigh. Must. Work. On. Sweater.